


Let's Save the Doctor

by AceMcshane



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Everybody Lives, F/M, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-23 09:33:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14329557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceMcshane/pseuds/AceMcshane
Summary: The Master (Ainley) creates a powerful device which he uses, of course, to spy on the Doctor across his timelines. He starts noticing his own future selves in the Doctors lives. When he sees Missy dying he decides to intervene.She convinces him to save the Doctor when the device can't show them if he regenerated.Just a short, very indulgent story where everyone lives..almost.... eventually. Because Missy is amazingly smart and if anyone can, she can.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story that I wrote one afternoon when the idea evolved in my head and wouldn't leave.
> 
> It is a finale fixer. Begins with Ainley Master, Missy lives, the Doctor doesn't regenerate because I need more Twissy. Hang in there and it's worth it for Twissy friendship. It's very indulgent. And I haven't put all my fics online yet but I have this ongoing concept of Missy and Pick and Mix sweets. I think that's a UK thing so have a quick Google if it's not called that where you are!

 

Well this was amusing, and wrong, and probably going to mess up his timestream but it was irresistible to look.

He had, by some miracle made it off of that wretched planet where he had been infected with the cheetah virus, but it took him a long time to rid himself of it completely.

He had finally found the vital component for the antidote, and he had wasted no time with elaborate planning and just materialised in his TARDIS and taken it straight from a display at a museum of historical artefacts.

Alarms sounded and people began running in to the room just he was about to make his exit.

His hand on the door moments from leaving, and something caught his eye in the final seconds of his heist; encased in glass and particularly screaming out to be taken. It was definitely useful.

He smashed the glass and grabbed it before getting it into the safety of his TARDIS and leaving.

Only after some time of thoroughly investigating it did he realise what it could be modified to do. It was quite reminiscent of a crystal ball and reminded him of something he had used once before while disguising himself quite effectively.

This however, when coordinates and bio data were entered Into its concealed control panel, could be used to view people and events in the past and future. It was a very powerful artefact and there were so many possibilities. He could accomplish so much with the knowledge and insight it could give him.

He used it to watch the Doctor.

He moved back and forth through his time stream, seeing all his faces, laughing to himself. It was a front row seat to the Doctors entire timeline. How useful that could be.

Eventually he paused, as a future Doctor met a future Master. He watched intrigued at his future self moving Into a position of power by being elected prime minister. He watched as he took over the world, and saw himself die in the Doctors arms.

“That's not how the game ends,” he uttered in disdain.

He felt rattled by seeing his death, but continued, wanting to see the Doctor after the event but was surprised when, with an adjustment of the bio data he saw himself again.

He continued this time, his amusement at tracing the Doctor's future lost now, as he concentrated on his own timeline.

He watched, impressed as Missy fooled the Doctor into thinking she was a computer interface - the Doctor was a smart man but couldn't see what was right in front of him at times.

He followed Missy’s timeline, suitably impressed until he reached a turning point and he shook his head in confusion trying to work out what her plan was. He couldn't understand her motivation for being in a vault for that long.

Moving forwards he stared at the screen as his timeline came to an abrupt stop.

He sat up, seeing the image freezing and the unresponsive look in her eyes.

“Idiot,” he said sharply. He wasn't sure which one of his future selves his remark was directed at, but they had both irked him. He, for preventing her regenerating and her, for turning her back to him.

Nonetheless, he wasn't going to let the two of them end his future existence like that, despite what she had been about to do.

Standing with the Doctor was bad enough, especially as it meant certain regeneration in such a hopeless situation, but ending their life so permanently - that needed fixing.

And so he had worked to force his TARDIS to cooperate and materialise at the same point in time as two of his future selves.

He stepped outside, realising he was so close to them that it was lucky that he had not been spotted.

He waited until the lift doors closed, and then he traipsed across the ruined ground, his boots crunching the charred branches as he headed the short distance from his TARDIS to the clearing where his future self lay close to death.

A little _too_ close to death this time.

He came to a stop, glancing around to ensure no cybermen remained nearby, before approaching her.

“Missy,” he said simply, observing for any sign of life.

He sighed when he saw no flicker of awareness, certain she would react to one of her past selves if she heard his voice.

With one more glance of caution through the smoky, burnt trees, he picked her up carefully and quickly walked the short distance back to his TARDIS.

Once inside, he hurriedly placed her on the floor and activated the pre-set coordinates to ensure they made it off the ship, and then he turned to assess her.

He had placed her rather awkwardly on the floor in his haste to ensure they did not get stuck, but he doubted she would mind if he managed to save her.

Crouching next to her, he shook his head and re positioned her so that she was laying flat on her back. He paused, contemplating the irony of losing the results of a rather complicated regeneration energy experiment which had left him with a small amount of his own. Not enough to regenerate by any means, but the little he had could kick start hers.

He placed his hands on her.

For the first few moments she gave no response at all to the regeneration energy flowing into her. He cursed, already considering methods to get it back into him if this failed, but not willing to quite give up on his continued future so easily.

Finally, when he was beginning to tire, her eyes began to flicker slightly and she suddenly gasped. He continued, not releasing the flow of energy until her eyes flew open, wide with shock.

He sat back, watching her as she took rapid, ragged breaths, moving quickly into a sitting position with a wince of pain, as her eyes darted about his console room in confusion.

“That was a colossal error in judgement, but you’re alive,” he said as he stood up, watching her.

She stared up at him wordlessly, her mind rushing to make sense of the chain of events.

“I will explain, over tea, once you are more...yourself again. You're safe here Missy, just rest now.”

She had little choice as she collapsed back against the floor, drifting into unconsciousness.

She awoke to the familiar hum of her TARDIS, and turned on the bed, stretching before sitting up and stopping, suddenly startled as she looked around the room.

The familiarity was genuine, but this was not her TARDIS. It had not been her TARDIS for  lifetimes.

She stood up quickly and tried to pull her memories together quickly. It didn't make sense. She was dying - it wasn't what she had planned. Her last moment not by the Doctors side, but staring up at the artificial sky above her.

A moment of panic rose up within her at the thought of him.

Leaving the room, she made her way toward the console room, hoping she would find answers there.

He turned at the sound of the door opening and their eyes locked. She was filled with a heady mix of emotions and memories - so far back along her timeline, yet suddenly vivid.

“I was dying. How is this possible?” she asked.

“You're finally awake then my dear. I was beginning to think I was going to have to siphon my regeneration energy back. You were looking, might I say, quite dead.”

She paused, taking in his words, “you saved me? Why were you there?”

“I will explain, but I do have questions for you. I accept that I might not retain the answers once we part, but I can't leave them unasked.”

They moved to his conservatory, and sat and drank tea in companionable silence, both stealing glances at each other casually.

She remembered the conservatory where they now sat. She had often spent time focusing her thoughts in that room when she was him. Always alone however, even when there had been intruders that room remained locked tight. It was a sanctuary of sorts she supposed.

Her thoughts drifted away from the room as she felt a sudden wave of dizziness and nausea strike her. She looked at him, asking her question with caution, uncertain of his reaction.

“Did the Doctor survive?”

“Not the first thing I would expect you to ask,” he replied.

“I need to know,” she said with such sadness that it took him back.

“This isn't good at all. This.. _attachment_ to the Doctor. This is what comes of allowing him to keep you prisoner for so long. The one before you of course took it too far. The opposite extreme. Dying in his arms!” the Master said with disdain.

“No. It's what comes of caring and admitting that I want my friendship with him again. That I miss him. That I need him.”

He looked at her in dismay, “that's the result of successful brainwashing, or some form of extended mind control perhaps. He's locked you up for decades working on you. I'd be very impressed at the extent of it all if it wasn't me he was railroading. Missy, you don't need him.”

“Nobody has brainwashed me! We care about the Doctor. We love him. Don't even attempt to deny it because it’s impossible to lie to me,” she said  

He went to speak but stopped, sitting back in his chair with a sigh.

“Wait here,” he said.

When he came back he was carrying the artefact-turned-timestream viewer. He set it down on the table and explained how it worked, making it clear he would not give her even the smallest opportunity to steal it from him.

He worked on the bio data, moving backwards slightly until he located him. Watching her curiously, he let the scene play out.

She saw him alone on the ground,  surrounded by cybermen. The scene froze and they could not move it forward past that point. He heard her breath hitch.

The Master turned to her, grasping her shoulders as he turned her sharply to face him, “you're _crying?_ Over  _him?_ He was foolish to fight - he should have found a way out.”

“No, he was right,” she said through her tears. He hadn't regenerated, what if he doesn't? Can we go further forward?”

“I can't. I found a few other points like those. I think they are potential divergences in the timestream. Really not a good idea to play around with that,” he said with sincerity.

“When have the rules mattered to us?” she said, shrugging his hands from her shoulders.

“We aren't in the habit of breaking them for the Doctor,” he said.

She laughed, “oh you _are_ in denial.”

They watched the screen together, frozen at the image of the Doctor laying on the ground, motionless. Every second of time passing by was a horrible slow torture to Missy.

“I admit...i'm curious, having followed his timeline this far. It could simply be a limitation to the modifications I made.”

“It could. But if we just go and look - then we have our answer,” she said.

“I am not going to be tricked into a rescue attempt for the Doctor,” he said.

“Of course you won't,” she said. “I don't need to trick you because you don't want him dead either.”

She felt her drive returning fast as her thoughts smoothed out from the jumbled mess she had awoken to. “You want him to live. I never really wanted him to die even when I was trying to kill him - _in all these lifetimes._ We don't know if he will regenerate and he can't reach his TARDIS.  So let's go get him.”

“I have no desire to go headlong into danger to save the Doctor,” he said.

“If he doesn't regenerate….what would you do? A universe alone without him to play with,” she paused, knowing she had him. “Come on, let's save the Doctor.”

They reached him moments after he fell to the ground. They had set off a controlled explosion, taking out the cybermen in the immediate vicinity. It wasn't without risk however, and so they worked fast by carrying the Doctor toward the Master's TARDIS, his arms over their shoulders as they half carried, half dragged him along.

The Master cursed, realising he was taking most of his weight, but they got through the doors somehow.

Missy glared at the Master as he all but dropped the Doctor to the floor once they were inside. He only smirked in response.

“I suppose you want to take him back to his TARDIS. I will, because I don't exactly want him staying with me - now you, on the other hand are another matter, but he has to go.”

She laughed, “we take him to his TARDIS. I'm not suggesting we make it cosy for him though - we can make a few... _upgrades._ Nothing sinister, just enough to irritate him a bit. He’s ever so delightful when he's cross.”

He shook his head at her in amazement.

“Look, we have to take some time out to enjoy ourselves after all this hard work before he recovers, so we could always have a teensy bit of fun," she said.

“I suppose that balances out all this do-gooding. We can make some very interesting adjustments to his systems. I need some components too - nothing that will ground his TARDIS though, I give you my word,” he said.

She nodded, and turned to the Doctor, placing her hands on him, only to feel the Masters hands on her shoulders as he abruptly pulled her away.

She glared at him angrily, “I thought we had an agreement.”

He dismissed her protest with a wave of his hand as he knelt next to the Doctor, placing his own hands on his chest. “You've barely recovered, your own energy needs time to restore properly. I’ll have to do it.”

She gave him a grateful smile, “I appreciate that.”

The Master started the energy transference and closed his eyes, feeling it flowing fast into the Doctor.

Missy watched as the Doctor’s eyes flew open.

“He’s awake, you can stop,” she said.

The Master opened his eyes, trying to pull back but finding his energy channelling too quickly into the Doctor.

“I can’t….stop it..” the Master stammered.

Missy stood behind him and grabbed this shoulders, the resulting energy burst making her tremble violently.

“STOP!” she yelled.

The Doctor struggled to move but managed to eventually sit up, grabbing the Masters arms hard as he stared into his eyes in confusion.

Missy moved around trying to get in between them. Placing her hands against the Masters chest she shoved hard and finally he fell backward, the glowing energy withdrawing back into him.

“Well, that was a spectacular mess. You could have drained completely, you _will_ have a use for what you absorbed!” she said.

The Doctor watched in total confusion as Missy and a face of her past that he had not seen in a very long time got to their feet, both looking less than immaculate as they argued with each other.

“I would say not assuming your last regeneration would retaliate when you stabbed him was far more of a spectacular mess!” he said almost triumphantly.

“Well, not dead am I?!” she said.

“Only thanks to me!” he said incredulously, “and what are you going to do now? Go back to your prison? At least the one before you wouldn't be kept as a pet.”

“I am NOT a _pet,”_ she spat, her hands balling into fists as she contained her urge to punch him for the insult.

“You've lost your edge if you can't get out of a locked room in seventy years!” he said, his voice growing louder in anger.

“I can get out anytime I like! I have lifetimes on you and even _you_ could do it.”

“Well then WHY DON’T YOU?!” he shouted.

“Because I WANT TO BE THERE!” she yelled back.

They stared at each other in silence as he digested her words.

Eventually he spoke, “I didn't save you so you could go running back to him. _Yes._ We love him. There is no point trying to deny it to you, but that's why we torment him, why we toy with him. We don't let him _keep us_.”

“That's not what it is. Not at all,” she sighed. “I am not who I once was. I'm sorry if that angers you, and it's not out of some twisted desire to be his _pet._ Not in the slightest. He's our friend and always has been. I just...I.." her voice wavered, “I.. stand with him now.”

Only then did the Master catch movement in his peripheral vision and realise the Doctor had woken at some point and heard their conversation.

The pride and joy in the Doctors eyes, directed toward Missy gave him an unsettling feeling. This was not how they played. He did not understand Missy or this Doctor in the slightest.

The Master closed his eyes and uttered a curse, “I think it's time you both left.”

Missy turned and met the Doctor's eyes, relief flooding through her as she saw him sitting up watching them.

He smiled at her as she walked over to him, reaching her hand out. He took hold as she helped him stand, neither letting go once he was on his feet and steady.

“Thank you for what you did. You will understand me someday, I promise you,” she said to the Master.

Meeting the Doctor's eyes, she smiled at the warmth she saw directed at her.

Leaving the Doctor leaning on the console, she inputted the coordinates to her TARDIS.

It was definitely time to leave.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

The Doctor woke in a room which was undoubtedly Missy’s. He opened his eyes and warmth rushed Into his hearts as he remembered her conversation with her past self. His question over how they ended up on that particular Master's TARDIS was burning, but the fact that he was on her TARDIS now was the overriding fascination.

He moved to a sitting position, glancing around and realising he was laying on a large four poster bed. It was elaborate with its dark oak frame and voile curtains.

Easing himself off the bed and standing up, he soon realised his injuries had healed, and he made to leave the room but couldn't help steal a glance around her bedroom, appreciating the historical accuracy of her late Victorian England decor.

As he walked through an oak panelled corridor, lit exquisitely by ornate iron lamps, he instinctively followed the quiet hum which he knew would lead him to the console room.

It didn't take long, her TARDIS clearly wanted to help him and the hum grew louder very quickly. It almost felt as though this TARDIS was excited.

He pushed open the console room door and froze in surprise at the sight of his TARDIS dematerialising, or at least trying to.

He watched for several minutes, as it repeatedly attempted to dematerialise, then failed to materialise, and eventually he realised it might actually be stuck - unable to take off or arrive, so he accessed the controls on Missy's console and created a link between them. Eventually materialisation completed and the door opened.

She stepped out of his TARDIS and met his eyes with a somewhat regretful expression.

“Thank you. 38 times. _38 times_ I have tried to arrive at that ship, eventually your TARDIS refused to move. She won't cooperate at all, I thought she _liked_ your pets?”

“Missy...you're trying to get back to the ship? Why?” he asked.

“If _I'm_ the only one left who wants to save the egg man and all those humans then this _is_ a sorry state of affairs. Your TARDIS is fighting me and I have no intention of moving mine anywhere near the action. It's a pact we made a while back.”

He stepped toward her and took her hand, smiling at her warmly.

“You're trying to get back there to save them? Wait…. you were flying my TARDIS, she was just fighting you because she doesn't want to go back there - you moved her inside here though. How easy were the bio locks to remove?” he asked with curiosity.

“Oh, it took over 15 minutes, it really was troublesome. I can't stand getting delayed by technical issues like that,” she said.

“I put extra layers of security on - I'd hoped it would take you at least 40 minutes,” he said.

She hesitated, “I..shouldn't have assumed it was ok.”

He moved his other hand to her shoulder, squeezing in what he hoped was a reassuring way. He never had got used to physicality in his current body. Missy having the opposite issue was amusing when he thought about it.

“No, no, it's not a problem. Not a problem at all. Honestly I didn't know how I was going to get back to her.”

He gave her a smile and let go of her hand as he stepped around her console, taking in the readings.

“I had five layers of security on there. 15 minutes was fast. Would you show me how you did it when we get a quiet moment?” he asked, clearly impressed.

She gave a small smile, “of course.”

“We could always use your TARDIS,” he suggested, “she does look raring to go.”

Missy gave him a look of incredible annoyance and huffed, “ok,” she said with great annoyance, casting a glare over her shoulder at the Doctor's TARDIS.

The calculations were somewhat easier to compute on Missy's console due to some systems she had modified to work considerably differently to his. He had so many questions he wanted to ask her about her TARDIS, so many ideas that instantly swarmed his mind about what they could do using two TARDIS’s.

But first, they had people to save and conversations to have together.

She explained the controlled explosions she had used with the Master, to wipe out the nearby cybermen while putting him at minimum risk. It involved a containment field springing up around anyone it detected as living as soon as a device was detonated.

He was impressed.

In truth he was always impressed with her, but the vast majority of the time she had used her considerable skill and talent for evil. Now though, he felt he could openly show his appreciation.

It was a bumpy ride. His TARDIS had held back, not willing to go headlong into the danger she had just been saved from. Missy's TARDIS however, perhaps through decades of loneliness, had hurtled herself into that same danger with no holding back.

They materialised with a violent jolt, throwing them both across the console room.

The Doctor looked at Missy, stunned as she laughed joyfully, looking at her console with a impressed expression.

“ _That_ was a ride! Now that's more like it!” she said as she continued laughing, “doesn't run from danger, my one.”

“Wonder where she gets that from?” he said, raising an eyebrow at her.

The Doctor got to his feet and she jumped up, joining him as they looked at the screen.

They were definitely on the next floor. And they had arrived in time. Two children were running on the grass a little further ahead, too engaged in a game of tag to notice anything.

They wasted no time and stepped outside.

It was a strange experience. The design was almost identical to the floor above, and it was disorientating for a moment.

The Doctor glanced back and his disorientation was worsened when he saw that Missy’s TARDIS had taken the external appearance of his.

He looked at her, and she smiled.

“He’ll figure it out once he's through the door. I don't want to waste time trying to convince him that it's safe to get in my TARDIS,” she explained. “He would probably think I was enacting an elaborate plot to kill you all.”

“So you overrode the chameleon circuit, good idea,” he smiled appreciatively, “thank you.”

Missy felt a shiver, remembering walking up to an identical farmhouse but that time with her younger self and Nardole, _and Bill._ She wondered if Bill was truly dead now and thought for a moment how much that fact would hurt the Doctor.

The last time she had walked across a field exactly like the one she walked on now, the Doctor had been unconscious and she had been very confused. So confused and so torn between the Doctor and her past that her head hurt.

Now though, her mind was very clear. If ever a person had an opportunity to repeat a moment in their life, this felt like it.

They followed the sound of voices to the rear of the farmhouse and stopped in their tracks as they watched a group of children running on the field playing.

“Well, there's a surprise. Didn't expect to see either of you again.”

They turned to see Nardole looking quite confused, but immensely relieved, “do I want to ask how you got back here?”

“It's a long story,” the Doctor said.

“Thought as much,” Nardole replied. “Now either you've got stuck here or you have a way out….”

“We do, just a short walk to the TARDIS,” the Doctor said.

He sat on a low stone wall with Missy beside him, as Nardole rounded up the survivors. He really had done a good job of looking after them, most of whom were children.

He turned to her, “where do we go from here?”

She met his eyes, puzzled by the question, “well it's a colony ship, so the original destination surely?”

“No, I mean after that. Where does this leave _us_?” he said, “tell me what we do now.”

“You're asking _me_?” she said. “Well we have my favourite personal shopper back, so I make an extra special list of requests and you let me build a lab...and a games room...and I get that 3D printer you said was a terrible idea,” she paused. “Oh! And I don't think a swimming pool is an unreasonable request.”

He smiled and took her hand, meeting her eyes with sincerity, “Missy you don’t belong in the vault anymore.”

Her eyes drifted from his to their joined hands, “where am I going to go?” she asked, hating the vulnerability in her voice. Attempting to hide it, she joked, “you really have some commitment issues if you promise 1000 years and give up after 70.”

He squeezed her hand, acknowledging her concern.

“Doctor, look. I don't trust myself just yet,” she said, meeting his eyes with some effort. “Don’t just open the door, because I'm not ready to be on my own.”

She paused, her words coming with considerable difficulty, “I do...still need help. Maybe..I don't want to be on my own at all anymore.”

He smiled warmly, “I want you to stay with me, on my TARDIS. I will keep a certain level of security in place but nothing too restrictive - just to ensure you don't leave by yourself or start manufacturing weapons or devices capable of mass destruction.”

“You're no fun,” she said, with an exaggerated pout, but feeling somewhat relieved.

He returned her smile, “..and not for 930 years...just until you're ready. And _you'll_ know when that is, better than I will. I want this to be a mutual agreement though - between us. You can get past bio locks and your TARDIS can travel inside mine, so you can easily leave, but I want you to make me a promise that you won’t before you're ready.”

“I can do that...but I still get to have egg man as my personal shopper though?”

The Doctor laughed, “you'll have access to everything you need, but stop calling him that and he might keep bringing you those Pick and Mix sweets you like.”

“I can manage that,” she smiled.

“But you don't..have to leave. I would be  honoured if you would stay with me,” he paused, realising that he felt just as vulnerable as she did at that moment.

“Doctor,” she said, “I'd like to stay. One condition though.”

“What's that?”

“We take less eventful trips. Instead of following every distress call. Can we just go out and have tea. Breathe some natural air...just once in a while.”

“Real air and tea?” I think we can manage that,” he said.

They sat and waited for Nardole, hand in hand.

Nardole had gathered the humans and Missy entered first, ready to lead them all to a nearby room. The Doctor hung back, ensuring he and Nardole got in last.

They entered and Nardole paused, “did you let Missy redecorate?” he asked, then realisation dawned on him. “Oh...should we be worried about mortal danger right about now?”

“No, she's the one who saved you and all these people,” the Doctor said.

Nardole followed the last of the people and just hoped she wasn't going to take them all into life threatening danger. It was either that or a tea party - he never could tell with Missy.

Later, they sat together In the Doctors library, a pot of tea almost finished. The quiet of the room was pleasant - surrounded by age and history.

The Doctor stood up, eyeing the pile of books Missy had selected.

“You have everything from cybernetic surgery to particle reconstruction there. Not planning anything we need to know about are you?” he said, only half joking.

“Just some light reading - you know how quickly I get bored,” she said, “and you promised to bring my piano in dear.”

“Ah yes, I will sort that out now before I forget, don't want to leave without it,” he said, casting a smile at her.

Nardole turned to her once he had left, “are you going to tell him?”

“There's nothing to tell,” she said.

“The coordinates set on your TARDIS console,” he said as he eyed her suspiciously. “The moment after you retrieved him and healed him. Your next trip in your TARDIS is right back there. He won't approve of this.”

“That's why you're not going to tell him,” she said, trying to get the balance between threatening and terrifying. It was delicate.

“No-one has ever reversed a cyber conversion. You could harm her if It failed. He would tell you it's sometimes better...kinder, to let people go,” he said.

“I won't let her suffer, but I might save her - but I have a lot of research to do before it's even a possibility. In the meantime. As I've promised not to go outside, I have a request.”

“Ok,” he sighed, “what is it? If it sounds even remotely evil, I'm not helping you.”

“Before we leave earth. I need a large cup of Pick and Mix sweets. Get every kind - don't forget the jelly snake and those milk chocolate mice. I can create my own supply if I have samples to work with.”

Nardole shook his head, “sugar and additives don't technically qualify as evil I suppose.”

She smiled happily. Earth wasn't so bad in that century, she was quite fond of the additives and sugar.

They finished their tea. The secret of her cyber conversion reversal research an unspoken promise.

The coordinates remained set on her TARDIS  console. One day, she could be ready to extract Bill and try, but only once she was certain it would work. Until then, she had sweet recipes to emulate and a friendship to embrace.

  



End file.
